Chapter 2 #2
The group laughed as a whole. Some more than others.
Aylin blushed to the tips of her ears, but she lifted her chin and leveled a look at him. "Maybe one of those John Mayer banana hammock suits?"
Lincoln covered his eyes with his hand. "Please, no."
Fish chuckled and stroked his beard. "I dunno. I think he could rock one of those."
"Maybe," Lincoln leaned in and gave him a look from head to toe, "I guess it would be question of tan lines."
Stillman Rook jumped in with both feet. "I'm betting that Caddo doesn't have any tan lines."
Sam lifted an eyebrow at that. "So you think I sunbathe in the nude?"
"Oh, dear..."
Everyone froze at the moment and Sam knew who had spoken before he looked over.
They all knew the voice of Viviana Blaise.
She stopped just shy of their loose circle and ran her gaze over the whole group of people.
"Can someone tell me what I just walked into?"
Sam lifted a hand and rubbed at the back of his head, turning his gaze back to Aylin, wrapping an arm around the shoulders of the young woman they all considered their little sister.
Well all of them except for Rook.
He got a pass when the guys started to talk about the romance or lack thereof in their lives.
He had gone through fire to get the approval of Aylin's father, Chief Blaise.
Literally.
"We were talking about doing a camping trip with the folks on shift and ours families," he explained. "Aylin here," he gave the younger woman a squeeze around her shoulders, "had some interesting ideas on what some of us could wear at the lake."
Aylin tried to take a step away from him, but he playfully pulled her back. "Don't try to run away now."
Aylin smacked at his hand and he let her go with a laugh, turning to Aylin's mother with a smile. "I think we can all agree that the only bananas we'll see at the camp will be the kind we can eat."
Sam thought he'd worked around the pitfalls that his words could create, but he hadn't quite thought it through, because the whole group broke into laughs a moment later.
It gave Sam the time to think through what he'd said and groan as Viviana Blaise walked up and stepped into the circle.
"You walked right into that one, Caddo."
He nodded. "Sad, but true. I hadn't thought about all of the connotations."
"Don't let them pick at you, Caddo."
Chief Blaise was at his side and Sam shook his head. "I worry sometimes about the level of humor we react to on a daily basis."
Aylin leaned in so she could look at her father. "Honestly," she smothered her laugh and looked like she was trying to compose herself as she cleared her throat, "I wonder if you guys all have the collective sense of humor of a class full of teenage boys."
Rush shrugged and addressed the group. "Thora wonders the same thing when I tell her some of the jokes you guys talk about on shift."
Fish's jaw dropped and he looked mildly put out by Rush's words.
"Excuse me? Are we talking about teen like thirteen or teen like seventeen?
" He grinned at the group with his easy smile and affable nature.
"Naw, never mind. You don't need to clarify.
We do have the sense of humor of teenage boys.
" He shrugged. "At least that's what Sage tells me on a daily basis. "
Sam grinned. Sage was Fish's wife and the two of them were hopelessly in love.
Something that he could now admit he was jealous of.
He didn't envy the two the difficulties they went through getting together, but the happiness that followed?
Yeah.
He was beginning to realize that he wanted that, too.
He'd seen Chief Blaise fall in love with Viviana and people who knew them often forgot that Aylin was adopted by the chief when she was almost an adult.
They were just that close of a family. Rush and Thora had fallen in love when she'd come to the station intending to surrender her baby, afraid that she couldn't care for her.
Rush had welcomed mother and daughter into his life and his home.
They'd never left and instead, the couple had added to their family.
Peace and his wife Kylie had gotten together when she'd been at the scene of a child forgotten in a locked car and had broken the window to rescue the child. He'd admired her bravery and things fell into place after that.
And most recently, Rhett had been the one to fall when his friend's sister moved to San Antonio from Center City and needed a place to stay. Morgan and Rhett were a match that no one could deny. Even her older brother who'd considered kicking Rhett's ass for a hot moment.
Sam hadn't expected to meet someone like Seaton.
Really, he hadn't 'met' her yet.
He wanted to see the living, breathing woman.
And soon.
"So," he cleared his throat, "I need to get home."
Viviana and Aylin turned to look at him. Matching looks of open curiosity on their faces.
"What's going on?" "Oh? What's happening at home?"
The two women were eerily similar at times.
He wasn't sure what he wanted to say or what he wanted to reveal.
After all, he had no idea about Seaton's interest or lack thereof.
"I... I have some cookies from a neighbor waiting for me."
Lincoln brightened at that. "Cookies?"
Aylin rolled her eyes. "You're ditching us for cookies?"
The answer popped up in his head before he could stop it.
Yes.
Yes, he was ditching them but it was because of who left the cookies.
He was going to keep that to himself for the foreseeable future.
How could he say something to his friends and coworkers when he was struggling with it himself?
Putting it out there meant that his well meaning firehouse family would ask him about it.
They'd want to know. They'd want to help.
And he couldn't handle that.
Not yet.
First, he needed to go and get flowers and get home.
He waved at the group and started around to the driver's side of his truck.
"Caddo! Wait..."
He heard Viviana calling to him and he stopped.
No one brushed off their house 'mom.'
Viviana came to a stop with a sweet smile. "Do these cookies have something to do with the message you sent me about flowers?"
His smile tightened a little, but not because he wasn't happy.
He just didn't want everyone to ask why he was suddenly smiling so much.
Sam tipped his chin down and nodded. "I have a new neighbor and yesterday she brought cookies to my house to meet me."
"Ah..." She nodded. She clearly understood. "You were at work."
"I talked to her through the Ring camera I installed at my door, but now that I'm off of my shift, I'd like to go over and thank her in person. My mom would kick me if I didn't bring her a return gift."
Viviana's smile was wide and brilliant. "And her plate? If it's not a throw away, or a paper plate-"
"A holiday plastic container."
Viviana nodded. "So you want to know what kinds of flowers you should bring?"
"I'm pretty clueless about flowers."
Viviana touched his shoulder with her hand. "Everyone starts somewhere... And I take it that you don't want to jump straight to roses?"
"That's a lot of expectations with roses, right?"
She tapped his arm. "You are perceptive, Caddo. Remember that."
He saw a sweetness in her eyes that reminded him of his own mother and his heart welled up with gratitude.
"I'd start with daisies. Those mean new beginnings."
His eyes widened a little. "They have meanings?"
She shrugged. "I learned a lot from doing weddings. The coordinators like to explain the meaning of the flowers and I think it's amazing. Like carnations. Not many people like them all that much, but they smell like spice... almost like cloves?"
Sam frowned. "I can't say that I've ever smelled one."
"Dark pink carnations say gratitude. And sunflowers have a bunch of lovely meanings. Bringing hope. But it also means loyalty. Oh, and silent love."
She let her words fall between them and he saw the way she was watching him.
"Ah... Okay. I think I'll look for daisies. Or dark pink carnations." He nodded. "Thanks."
She reached up and touched the side of his face in a tender gesture. "Let me know if we can help."
She walked away and Chief Blaise met her halfway.
The Chief took her into his arms and placed a kiss on her cheek. He said something into her ear and Sam saw Viviana sigh and lean into her husband.
Yeah, he wanted that someday.